Request information

Another great tour to Machu Picchu: Salkantay Trek

05 September 2013

A five-day cruise can be done in comfortable camps or shelters through Mountain Lodges. It goes from the snow to open the high forest and the final destination is the great Inca sanctuaryThe traditional Inca part of Ollantaytambo is not the only route to Machu Picchu. The journey that travels the Salkantay open the great, the second highest mountain in the Cusco, is a unique five-day walk, that starts from the town of Mollepata Abancay way and three hours from Cusco, in a pathway that leads from the open of snow at an altitude of 4,600 m to the high forest of Machu Picchu.

TO ABRAThe first day begins with a short hike to a small lagoon waters crowned by one of the glaciers of the Cordillera Vilcabamba, where he lives in a silence broken only by the sound of water.

This site is dominated by the turquoise waters of the springs that contrast with the white snow and the intense blue of the mountain sky. The territory of the Salkantay snow gives us a unique landscape crowned by snowcapped peaks, where we feel really tiny. The walk continues and every step we surprised a beautiful setting where nature is the star.

The second day we travel to Pampa Salkantay, at 4,200 meters, land crowned by the great mountain. The translation of Salkantay is the indomitable and as climbers are well aware, very few have made ​​it to the top. They say that a Japanese expedition has come to dominate. The Salkantay is famous among climbers for their constant and unpredictable avalanches that have claimed lives of several climbers.

After a steep slope we reached the Salkantay Pass, where a poster and cairns (stone markers) placed by travelers indicate that we are at 4,549 m

We looked around and it seems that we are very close to touching the snow and reach the other side of Mount Tucarhuay, where you can enjoy the snowy landscape that give us as Pumasillo, which are at 6,100 m with other mountains of the Cordillera Vilcabamba.

The walk continues, this time downhill, and the changing landscape at every turn. We observe how the snowy Vilcabamba show a different face as we go on the road.

DOWN TO THE JUNGLEThe road downhill brings us into the forest where orchids, butterflies, lush trees and waterfalls crossing the nature trails we announce the presence of the forest and landscape, more and more green, appropriate of the mountains.

The crossing of the river Santa Teresa announces the arrival to our next destination: Collpapampa where deep breathe, the sun welcomes us, leave behind the mountains and the forest we receive. Time to relax and count shooting stars.

Continue the trip and the next day we go into the forest to take the Inca Trail that leads to complex Llactapata, checkpoint Inca tambo kind of where we spotted the Huayna Picchu and the terraces of the citadel, we see what they call the back of the Inca complex, another look and another way to reach our great destination: Machu Picchu. We walked down the hydro and tours trails left behind.

We remind our fellow traveler, the Salkantay and the cloud forest is the new habitat. Thousands of images and starry nights we come to mind and we got ready to dazzle with the great Inca sanctuary.

Cusco, one of the most touristic cities of South America, was the capital of the Inca Empire, an important cultural center of the Andes, Navel of the World, cultural center and axis of the Inca religious cult, and nowadays Archaeological Capital of America and Cultural Heritage of Humanity; many attractions to describe and perhaps little time to getting to ...read more (+)